Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The 'midwest mentality' is a connotation applied to everyone in Illinois who lives south of I-80. It is a Chicago vs them inbred hatred, fueled partly by political agenda, partly by ignorance, and perhaps a bit of Jealousy - although I don't know why. After all it is the largest city in the midwaest and it is a three shift town. The people who live there have everything they want 24/7 at their fingertips other than oceans, SOCA sunshine, and a few things that are unique to NYC.
There is certainly the opportunity to develope Chicago into a very unique world city - but that takes more than blather and a political machine that is more interested in precint votes than the city itself. . .
I've lived on both coasts. Execpt oceans and weather, on the surface I don't see much difference between it and the midwest except regional foods and the capacity to spawn very large towns and horrendous traffic problems. Illinois can do the same thing, but it means losing farms. IL is the #2 corn producer in the nation plus it produces soybeans. Angus cattle and hogs. We like our 1000 acre farms and large animal operations. It represents living, breathing tax dollars that go to Springfiled just llke Chicago tax dollars go to Springfield. .
The bottom line is most of the people who live south of I-80 don't hate Chicago, in fact we think about it less often than the Chicago Machine thinks about Springfield.
As to the midwest as a whole, every region is different whether it is Peoria, Il, Minneapolis, Niles, Mi, South Bend, In, Troy, Wi, Sioux City, Ia, Carthage, Mo, Pittsburg, Ks or Grove, OK. It is the same from state to state and coast to coast. And because of the differences it is very difficult to debate the worth or value of one city or one region over another.
The Saint Louis Metro Area includes eight counties in Illinois that make up the East Metro Illinois area. The entire area is anchored by Saint Louis. The last time I looked. Lake Saint Louis is an affluent suburb of St. Louis. Its been a number of years LSL may be ghetto by now, but I doubt it.
You seem to reference a very few people you've met from Illinois. Have you ever considered that perhaps Illinoians doen't want the Missoiri version of "new and daring." What is the Missouri idea of bold and proactive?. Complacent? Perhaps these individuals are happy with their life. How would anyone know that 'nothing gets finished' unless they live there? Ten years behind? Behind what?
I want to ask you a question? When is the last time you spent any time in Noel, or Blue Eye, Louisiana, Hannibal, Southwest City, Auxvaux, or Ash Grove, Missouri?
I lived in Missouri where towns are 20 years behind the tines, where nothing gets finished, where people are complacent, where they don't welcome outsiders, and they fear progress. They also do not have great schools or good health care - and they are in the same boat as other old, small towns in Missouri that struggle with not enough money, meth labs and the chicken plants that draw illegal aliens.
It is dangerous to broad brush an area when it is not clearly understood. Looks are very deceiving. I would be willing to bet a cup of coffee most Missourians do not understand the East Metro Illinois area or the deep south ideology that fuels it.
It is an educational experience to live outside ones comfort zone. .
Quote:
Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna
I can only speak for the "Midwest Mentality" that I see in the Saint Louis Metro Area.
I notice the reluctance to try anything new and daring. Lack of bold initiatives and proactivity.
There is a complacency here that I have never seen anywhere else. It seems nothing ever gets finished.
They are about ten years behind in the social and general trends arena. What you did in Highschool is still relevant when you are 40 and 50.
Midwest mentality is like porn. or art. You really can't pinpoint it, but you know it when you see it.
The thing that drives me nuts about the midwest is how they al extoll family values like they have ownership to it.
Yet I see more beaten spouses in Missouri than I have in NY and CA, and have heard the N-word more here than anyplace that I have ever lived. Even in Churches.
Trends are also slower in being accepted
wow. i didnt know spousal abuse and raceism respected political boundaries!
As to the midwest as a whole, every region is different whether it is Peoria, Il, Minneapolis, Niles, Mi, South Bend, In, Troy, Wi, Sioux City, Ia, Carthage, Mo, Pittsburg, Ks or Grove, OK. It is the same from state to state and coast to coast. And because of the differences it is very difficult to debate the worth or value of one city or one region over another.
I'm from Niles, MI , and I've been all across the Midwest, and I can say that there is much variety in the Midwest. The Midwest is a BIG place. To drive from one end to the other would take two days. Also, there are differences between small towns, cities, and states. For instance, Niles, MI feels different than South Bend, IN, even though the two cities literally border each other. The state line makes a difference. It's much more so between Niles and say, Williston, ND or Cincinnati, OH. The Midwest is one of the most culturally diverse and varied regions of the U.S., second only to the West.
I can only speak for the "Midwest Mentality" that I see in the Saint Louis Metro Area.
I notice the reluctance to try anything new and daring. Lack of bold initiatives and proactivity.
There is a complacency here that I have never seen anywhere else. It seems nothing ever gets finished.
They are about ten years behind in the social and general trends arena. What you did in Highschool is still relevant when you are 40 and 50.
That has been my experience with 80% of people in Missouri.
linicx: I'm not familiar with all of that going on in IL but I have still heard the term several times; and that is why I believe it is a regional term.
"The Midwest is one of the most culturally diverse and varied regions of the U.S., second only to the West."
I don't know that this is accurate as the West, excepting California - which did settled early - was by and large settled from midwestern descendants who brought their chulture from Europe and Canada to the East Coast. Theire children moved into NJ and PA. Thence theor childen moved westward into OH, IN, IL, MI, KS and OK. From these states their own children moved westward. Mine moved from IL into the Dakotas whilst an uncle printed the first newpaper in the newly opened Cherokee Land in OKlahoma Territory. My tidewater virginaians did the same thing. They came from the sourthern states and settled in Illinois and Kansas. .
I think it would be fair to say that the East, Midwest and West are three culturally diverse and historiclly distinct areas of a very large country.
That has been my experience with 80% of people in Missouri.
linicx: I'm not familiar with all of that going on in IL but I have still heard the term several times; and that is why I believe it is a regional term.
80% of the population of Missouri is like 5.5 million. So I guess you've met like 5.5-million, huh?
krock1dk: 80% of people I have met that live in MO : /
linicx: "I think it would be fair to say that the East, Midwest and West are three culturally diverse and historiclly distinct areas of a very large country." - yes distinct...
That has been my experience with 80% of people in Missouri.
linicx: I'm not familiar with all of that going on in IL but I have still heard the term several times; and that is why I believe it is a regional term.
It is smarmy hate term that needs to be erased from the collective conscience along with every other clever term that is meant to belittle another. EMI is just as different from Peoria or Champaign as it is from Chicago and St.Louis.
Not everyone in Illinois has the money, nor the desire to live a Chicago standard which is much different than Saint Louis. I am one of them. I don't need the clothes, the jewelry, the cuisine or the address. Been there that. I was raised in it and I worked in it. Now I have a network, five computers, pajamas and Egyptian colton 800 thread count cotton sheets and I"m happy doing what I please - and not much of anything else.
I had the pleasure of living and traveling in North America. It was educational and entertaining and amazing and depressing, and culturally deprived, and uneducated, etc.. It is extremely unfair and misleading to try to pin this tail on any one group or any one area in North America on something that some else said - especially when it connected to misplaced pride. You might be surprised at the number of Illinois millionairs who drive old pick up trucks and walk into the bankers office in work clothes because they are busier than the banker.
To walk in another man's shoes is to understand. Time takes time to pass, and it time to learn.
.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
, and I've been all across the Midwest, and I can say that there is much variety in the Midwest. The Midwest is a BIG place. To drive from one end to the other would take two days. Also, there are differences between small towns, cities, and states. For instance, Niles, MI feels different than South Bend, IN, even though the two cities literally border each other. The state line makes a difference. It's much more so between Niles and say, Williston, ND or Cincinnati, OH. The Midwest is one of the most culturally diverse and varied regions of the U.S., second only to the West.
